Students and community members attend a vigil after the shooting. Photo: Reuters

Police said a girl was killed and two other girls and two boys were wounded in the shooting. Several students identified the shooter as freshman Jaylen Fryberg, recently named the school's homecoming prince.

Student Zach Yarbrough said he saw the shooter "extend his arm across a round table and fire his gun three to four times."

Students were taken to a nearby church to be reunited with parents. Photo: AP

Four young people - two boys and two girls - were taken by ambulance to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington.

Both young girls with gunshot wounds to the head were out of surgery on Saturday and in a critical care unit. Doctors were monitoring them overnight and there was no immediate prognosis, said the hospital's chief medical officer Joanne Roberts.

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Another victim, Andrew Fryberg, a 15-year-old cousin of Jaylen, had surgery at Providence then was transferred to another hospital.

The fourth, 14-year-old Nate Hatch, was shot in the jaw. He was out of surgery and in serious condition Friday afternoon. He also is a cousin of Jaylen.

A school official reported the shooting at 10:39 am, according to Marysville Police Commander Robert Lamoureux.

Someone pulled a fire alarm in the minutes after the shooting, prompting scores of students to evacuate to a playing field as they had been trained. They were stopped by other students and police, who ordered them back to their classrooms to take cover.

The gunman fired multiple shots. "He was angry; I heard yelling," said Erick Cervantes, 16. "I heard a shot and then I saw a gun."

Jarron Webb, 15, said the shooter was angry at a girl who would not date him, and that the girl was one of the people shot.

Students reported pandemonium in the lunchroom after the shooting, with dozens rushing for doors and then jumping a fence to escape.

"He came up from behind and had a gun in his hand and he fired about eight bullets ... They were his friends so it wasn't just random," student Jordan Luton told CNN, adding that the gunman fired several more shots.

"Then he turned and looked at me and my girlfriend ... and kind of gave us a smirk and turned around and then shot more bullets outside," Jordan said.

Jalyen's friends said it was not clear what sparked the shooting.

Austin Neal, 14, who had science class with him, said he heard Jaylen had been bullied for being Native American.

"He seemed mad yesterday," Austin said, adding that Jaylen sat with his head down and "didn't really talk".

Another friend said that Jaylen had conflicts with at least one other student.

"He had gotten in a fistfight with another football player about two weeks ago," said Cesar Zatarain, 16, a fellow football player.

But Cesar attended marketing class with Jaylen on Friday morning before the shooting and didn't notice anything amiss.

"He was always laughing," Cesar said. "I just saw the kid a couple of hours ago, and now he's dead."

Police would not confirm the gunman's identity or discuss possible motives for the shooting.

Jaylen comes from a family that is prominent in the Tulalip tribe of Native Americans. His grandfather is director of fish and wildlife for the tribe.

"Any time something happens to one of our kids, it affects everyone," tribal communications director Niki Cleary said. "Everybody will be dealing with this for a long time."

The violence at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, about 48 kilometres north of Seattle, marked the latest in a series of deadly shooting rampages at American schools that have played a central role in a national debate over gun laws.

In 2012, a 20-year-old gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children and six adults before taking his own life.

The shooting is the second to rock a Seattle-area campus in the last five months. In June, a gunman opened fire at Seattle Pacific University, killing one student and injuring three.